Follow-up
By Venkatesh Raghavan
Earlier this week, Pakistan faced claims of surgical strike in its northern borders with Iran. The elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran conducted the strike that was instrumental in the release of two soldiers who were held captive in Pakistani territory since 2018, after a reported kidnapping. Media reports stated that the soldiers were held captive by Jaish ul-Adl, a Pakistani terror organisation in the middle of 2018. The operation that took place on late Tuesday night was described as a successful surgical strike by the IRGC in its press statement.
Currently, the soldiers are reported to be back in Iran and in sound health. The story dates back to October 16, 2018, when the Pakistani terror outfit kidnapped 12 IRGC guards and held them captive in Balochistan province that borders the two countries. The soldiers were said to be housed in Merkava city of the province. The crisis triggered by these non-state actors led to a joint military effort from both countries to free the captured guards.
The release of soldiers took place in a phased manner with five of them being released in November 2018. This was followed by a rescue mission conducted by the Pakistani Army that helped four more soldiers to be freed on March 21, 2019.
Iran has declared Jaish ul-Adl a terror outfit and has accused the organisation of pursuing an armed struggle against Iran. The outfit claims to be the custodians of the rights of Baloch Sunnis who reside in Iran.
It may be recalled that early in 2019, Jaish ul-Adl had claimed responsibility of launching an attack on Iran’s Basij paramilitary base which resulted in high casualties besides injuries to members of the IRGC. The bus in which the IRGC members were travelling came under their terror attack.
